Donning mechanism for bobbin handling machines



Dec. 12, 1950 R. P. DRAKE nomxmc; MECHANISM FOR BOBBIN HANDLING MACHINESFiled Sept. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Russell P. .DraKe BY a61/? ATTORNEYS Dec. 12, 1950 R. P. DRAKE 2,534,162

DONNING MECHANISM FOR BOBBIN HANDLING MACHINES Filed Sept. 22, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Russl/ P Dru/{e ATTORNE Y6 Patented Dec. 12,1950 DONNING MECHANISM Foe BOBBIN HANDLING MAoni-N is Russell P. Drake,Caledonia, I l l assignor to Barber-Colman company l toclgiord, Ill.,acorporation of Illinois Application September 22, 1945, Serial No.617,955

(Cl. 242 l) '7 Claims. 1

The invention pertains to, donning mechanism for use with bobbin windingmachines of the type disclosed in my copending application, Serial No.553,507, filed September 11, 1944, noW Patent No. 2,445,998 dated July27, 1948, and concerns more especially an improvement upon the donningmechanism or" said application.

The invention has for its general aim the provision of a donningmechanism of simple construction which is effectual in operation.

One object is to provide a bobbin carrier of the character indicatedembodyingcam means for engaging the bobbins while positioned in themagazine for lifting the same to permit of the entry of a simpleescapement device operative during the movement of the carrier todeliver an empty-bobbin to the winding spindle, to retain the remainingbobbins in the magazine.

Another objectis to provide a bobbin carrier having means of simpleconstruction operating automatically to grip andhold theemptybobbinduring its transfer from the magazine to the winding spindle.

The objects ofthe invention thus generally set forth, together withother and ancillary advantages, are attained by the construction andarrangement shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through a wincinema in o fiypdisclose in m seidp i r ei inte dshqw n th p d 9 nine mechani m in a qie i n with an empty bobbin magazine.

Fig.2 is a fragmentary front elevational view illustrating the bobbincarrier in position beneath the magazine and showing in dot-dash linesthe position of the carrier in eflecting transfer of the bobbin to thewinding spindle.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view on a somewhat enlarged scaleand illustrating the lifting of the bobbins with a cam action when thecarrier moves fromits normal position beneath the magazine.

In the present illustrative embodiment of my invention, a stack of emptybobbins b are retained in a magazine 1 open at its upper end forreceiving the empty bobbins and at its lower end for the discharge ofthe bobbins one by one onto a carrier 8 for transfer thereby intooperative relation to a winding spindle 9, the latter being equippedwith gripping device I t for engaging the head or butt end of thebobbin-and a tail center H for engaging the tip. end of the bobbin. Thecarrier comprises a receptacle or cradle; l2. mounted upon .a movablevsupport such 2 as a leve a m tpi ied at 4. n e f n d .9 actuation by acam 15 in proper timed relation to the Winding mechanism. The pivotalsupport 151 forthe. arm I 3 is in the form of a rocks haft,

and the arm is connected to the shaft through the medium of a yieldableoverload device E5. Th ea en o his a t c r es depending arm IT connectedby a link {3f with a pivotally supported arm It, the latter havingaroller foll werifi 9 en a e n With. h fl m- Themagazine i has opposedside members 2| with suitable guide means 22 for the head or butt endsof the bobbins, the side n embers being spaced apart adistancesufficient to accommodate the bobbins with the up ends thereofprojecting forwardly from the" side membrsas shown in Fig. 1. At itslower rear edge the ma a ine is equipped with a bracket '23 constitutinga stop for "engagement by the lowermost bobbin upon release from themagazine into the cradle I2, the purpose of this stop beingto preventthe relatively heavy bobbinhead from causing the bobbin to tilt or tipbackwardly out of the cradle. Preferably, the bracket stop 'isadjustably fastened to the magazine.

As best shown in Fig. 'l, the cradle i2 is generally U-shaped in form.Itis pivotally supported upon the rod 24 fixed in the upper end ofthearm it, and it provides upwardly extending front and rear arms 25 and2 6 suitably notched as at 2'! to receivethe bobbin and to support thesame at spaced points lengthwise thereof, the arms being adapted toengage the bobbin at spaced points with the arm 25 adjacent the head endthereof.

Rigid with the cradle is a depending arm 28 (Fig. 12) held against astop 29 on the arm t3 bya contractilespring 3%, one end of the latterbeing attached to the arm l3 and the other to a lugfiflrigid with thecradle. It Will be appreciated that the length of stroke imparted to thearm I3 by the 153' is such as to carry the cradle from the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 2 into operative association with thespindle9 with an empty bobbin mounted on the cradle positioned in alinernentwith the spindle. The purpose of the yieldable mounting of the cradle isto permit the latter to disengage from the bobbin after the latter hasbeen clamped in position between the chuck it and tail center i I.

During the movement of the carrier to transfer an emptybobbin from themagazine to the windingspindlathe. remaining bobbins are retained inpositionwithin the magazine by. means of an escapement device 32. Thelatt r "co p n other reasons.

upright portion 33 pivotally mounted at its upper end on a rod 34 andhaving laterally projecting portions or fingers 35 spaced apart in adirection lengthwise of the bobbins. A coiled torsion spring 35encircling the pivotal support 34 acts upon the escapement device toswing it in a direction toward the magazine.

Normally the fingers 35 underlie the lowermost one of the stack ofbobbins in the magazine to support the same. To release the lowermostbobbin irom the stack, the cradle is utilized to actuate the escapementdevice to withdraw it from its position beneath the stack of bobbins asan incident to the return movement of the cradle to its normal position.For this purpose, the escapement device has a depending finger 3'6disposed in the path of movement or" the arm it so as to be engagedthereby in the return stroke of the arm and carried against the actionof the spring 35 into the position shown in Fig. 2. In this position,the cradle underlies the magazine and the lowermost bobbin is permittedto drop into the notched portions 27 of the cradle. Upon movement of thecradle in its forward or delivering stroke, the spring 36 swings theescapement device 32 into position beneath the next lowermost bobbinthereby supporting the stack of bobbins during the delivering stroke.

To facilitate entry of the escapement fingers 35 into active position,power actuated cam means is employed operative in the movement or thecradle from its normal position to engage with the lowermost bobbinsupported upon the escapement device. In the present instance, this cammeans is provided by portions integral with the side arms and 28 of thecradle and constituting cam members 38 and 38a engageable with thebobbin at longitudinally spaced points. The cams are shaped to impart alifting movement to the stack of bobbins in the magazine as illustratedin Fig. 3. In addition to assuring entry of the escapement device underthe force of a relatively light spring, such lifting of the bobbins inthe magazine serves to dislodge any bobbins which may have become stuckaccidentally in the magazine.

It may occasionally happen that bobbins received in the cradle willbecome dislodged therefrom due to the vibration of the machine or for Topreclude this, the cradle incorporates a gripping means coacting withthe notched portions 2? to form a bobbin pocket and operative in themovement of the cradle away from the magazine to hold the bobbin duringits transfer to the winding spindle. This means preierably takes theform of a pair of gripping fingers 3Q pivoted on the rod 24 andappropriately notched as at 49 for coaction with the notched portions 27of the cradle in holding the bobbin therein. Torsion springs 4! (Fig. 1)act on each of the fingers to move them into engagement with the bobbin,such movement being limited by a stop :22 on each finger engageable withthe base of the cradle. As shown in Fig. 2, the tip of each finger 39 isadapted to engage with a stop #53 on the lower end of the magazine asthe cradle moves into position beneath the magazine. Thus pivotalmovement or" the fingers relative to the cradle is accomplished, havingthe eiiect of opening up the bobbin receiving pocket of the cradle orreceptacle.

Summarizing the operation of the improved donning mechanism, the bobbincarrier normally occupies the position shown in Fig. 2, it beingobserved that in this position the escapement de- 4 vice 32 has beenmoved into a position to permit the lowermost bobbin to drop into thearms 25 and 26 of the cradle and that the remaining bobbins of the stackare supported by the cradle through the medium of the released bobbin.Actuation of the carrier arm [3 by the cam [5 causes the cradle to moveout from its position beneath the magazine and into operativeassociation with the spindle 9 to deliver the bobbin thereto, and whenthe latter has been gripped between the chuck Ill and tail center H, thecarrier returns, the cradle yielding in its disengagement from thebobbin as permitted by the spring 39.

As the cradle moves away from its position beneath the magazine, the cammembers 38 and 38a engage with the lowermost bobbin camming it upwardlyand with it the remaining bobbins in the stack so that the escapementfingers 35 are free to enter under the action of the spring 36 intoholding position beneath the then lowermost bobbin. Such movement of theescapement device is of course permitted by the movement of the upperend of the carrier arm 13 away from the depending finger 3? of theescapement device.

Also incident to the movement of the carrier arm away from the magazinei, the gripping fingers 39 are released to the action or" their springsii, the tip ends of the fingers 39 moving away from the stops 43 and thefingers themselves moving into gripping engagement with the bobbin inthe cradle. In returning from its delivery position in association withthe spindle, the fingers 39 yield so as to become disengaged from thebobbin in the same general way as the cradle itself yields as permittedby the spring 35 and upon the return movement of the cradle to aposition beneath the magazine the tip ends of the fingers engage thestops 43 to open up the cradle pocket for the reception of the nextbobbin.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a winding machine having a magazine for supporting a stack ofempty bobbins and a winding spindle at one side of the magazine, abobbin donning mechanism comprising a cradle normally positioned beneaththe magazine and serving to support the stack of bobbins therein withthe lowermost bobbin received in the cradle, said cradle being mountedfor movement from its normal position to carry a bobbin to the windingspindle, an escapement device normally positioned out of the path ofdownward movement or the stack of bobbins in the magazine and operativeas an incident to the movement by said cradle of the lowermost bobbintoward the spindle to engage and hold the next lowermost bobbin wherebyto support the remaining bobbins in the magazine, and cam means movablewith the cradle and engageable with said next lowermost bobbin to liftthe same together with the bobbins above it to permit entry of saidescapement device into position beneath the lowermost bobbin.

2. In a bobbin winding machine having a winding spindle with means forclamping a bobbin in position on said spindle and a magazine disposed atone side of the spindle and adapted to contain a supply of emptybobbins, a donning mechanism comprising a power actuated pivotalsupport, a bobbin receptacle mounted on said support, an escapementdevice operatively associated with the magazine, and cam means on saidreceptacle operable to engage with the next lowermost bobbin to lift thesame relative to said escapement device whereby the latter may move intoholding relation to the remaining bobbins in the magazine.

3. In a bobbin winding machine having a winding spindle with means forclamping bob bin in position on said spindle, a donning mechanismcomprising a pivoted arm, a cradle pivotally supported on said arm andmovable therewith from a normal position at one side of he spindle, aspring acting upon said cradle, and interengaging stop means forlimiting movement of the cradle by said spring, said cradle being shapedto form a receptacle for receiving a bobbin when in said normalposition, and a member pivoted with respect to the cradle and movableinto gripping engagement with said bobbin as an incident to the movementof the cradle away from said normal position.

4. In a bobbin winding machine having a win-zling spindle with means forclamping a bobbin in position on said spindle and a magazine disposed atone side of the spindle and adapted to contain a supply of emptybobbins, a donning mechanism comprising a receptacle, means forsupporting said receptacle for movement from a position beneath themagazine into operative relation to the Winding spindle, an escapementdevice pivotally mounted at one side of the magazine and engageable bysaid supporting means to move said device out of holding relation to thebobbins in the magazine, said receptable being operative through themedium of the released bobbin to support the remaining bobbins, springmeans acting on said escapement device and operative upon the transferof the lowermost bobbin to the winding spindle to move said escapementdevice into holding relation to the remaining bobbins, and cam means onsaid receptacle engageable with the next lowermost bobbin to lift thesame in the movement of the receptacle away from the magazine whereby topermit entry of the escapement device beneath the next lowermost bobbinby said spring means.

5. In a bobbin winding machine having a winding spindle with means forclamping a bobbin in position on said spindle, a donning mechanism stopmeans engageable by said gripping member 1 in the return movement of thereceptacle to shift the gripping means into an inactive position.

6. In a bobbin winding machine having a winding spindle with means forclamping a bobbin in position on said spindle and a magazine disposed atone side of the spindle and adapted to contain a supply of emptybobbins, a donning mechanism comprising a movable support and a bobbinreceptacle mounted on said support and movable therewith from a positionbeneath the magazine into operative association with the spindle, saidreceptacle having a gripping member movable relative thereto, springmeans for moving the gripping member into engagement with the bobbin inthe receptacle as the latter moves out of position beneath the magazine,an escapement device operatively associated with the magazine andmovable in the return stroke of the receptacle into position to releasethe next lowermost bobbin from the magazine into the receptacle, andstop means engageable by said gripping means as a receptacle moves intoposition beneath the magazine whereby to shift the gripping meansagainst the action of its spring means into position to permit deliveryof a bobbin into the receptacle.

'7. In a bobbin winding machine having a winding spindle, a bobbindonning mechanism comprising a bobbin receiving and transporting cradlewith a bobbin receiving recess therein, means for moving said cradlefrom a normal position at one side of said spindle, with said recessopening upwardly for the reception of a bobbin, into operativeassociation with the spindle, with the recess opening laterally, alocking element pivoted relative to said cradle and notched forengagement with a bobbin supported in said recess, and spring meansacting upon said locking element and operative as an incident to themovement of the cradle away from its said normal position to move saidelement into looking engagement with the bobbin therein.

RUSSELL P. DRAKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,302,715 Reynolds et a1 Nov. 24,1942 2,306,871 Esser et al Dec. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 481,232 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1938

